June 2011

Tommy Wyatt and Curtis Lewsey wrote a tremendous book titled "Appreciation Marketing" in which they discuss the Popcorn Principal. "The Popcorn Principal simply states that certain actions repeated, when done in proper sequence, will always yield the desired outcome."

As a manager you need to ask yourself what you want from your employees:

I was reading a strong article from Carol Morrison last week called, The Four P’s of High Performance.It was in-line with my past blogs about the importance of talent and behavior based rewards, ROI and measurement, and making core values actionable.The article was based on a survey conducted by the Institute for Corporate Productivity.

Business owners are growing more optimistic about their companies’ prospects, according to a study by Robert Half International. Interviewing more than 4,000 business leaders for the Robert Half Professional Employment Report, it found that 92 percent are confident that their companies will show growth in 2011’s third quarter. This is an increase from the company’s survey for the second quarter, when 86 percent of respondents felt confident about their company’s performance.

With the holidays six months away, you should start to prepare an appropriate giveaway for preferred clients. Sending a holiday gift is a good way to get your brand remembered and show customer and employee appreciation. Whatever you consider for this year's holiday gift giving season, start planning now and order early. With inventory levels suffering due to overseas production and labor issues, inventory levels for the best items will be scarce come fall.

Over the weekend I watched a documentary called "Transcendent Man." It is about inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil. The documentary expounds on his ideas about the merging of man and machine, and how technology is exponentially growing and impacting our way of life. So it still amazes me when I consult with companies who believe that their employees don’t have access to the internet and emerging technology.